Eagles Romp In Los Angeles, Win 7th Straight Behind Their Star Running Back

Philadelphia EAgles Saquon Barkley had 255 yards rushing, the ninth-best single-game total in NFL history in a 37-20 win

Nov 24, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) runs the ball against the Los Angeles Rams during the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA – There’s not much more than can be said about Saquon Barkley this season. The Eagles’ running back is playing at an MVP level and that dominant play took center stage again, this time in Sunday night primetime.

Barkley opened the third quarter with a 70-yard touchdown run then added a 72-yard jaunt late in the game to blow it open and send the Eagles to their seventh straight win with a hammering of the Los Angeles Rams, 37-20, at SoFi Stadium.

He finished with 255 yards rushing, which was the ninth-best total in NFL history and set the Eagles’ team record for most yards in a game. He did it on 26 carries for an average of 9.8 yards per carry.

His two touchdowns give him 10 rushing this season.

He leads the league with 1,362 yards, which is better than the career-high of 1,312 yards in 2022 set with a team that had no idea how to use him (that would be the league laughingstock New York Giants).

There’s more: He had 302 total yards, which was the ninth-most in NFL history and added to his league lead. He is up to 1,659.

On his 70-yard touchdown run, he reached a top speed of 21.38 mph, per Next Gen Stats, which was his fifth play of the season reaching 21-plus mph as a ball carrier, most in the NFL.

Thanks largely to Barkley, the Eagles have now played six straight games with at least 150 yards rushing and two rushing scores. The only other time that was done in franchise history was in 1949. That Eagles team won the NFL Championship (there was no Super Bowl in those days and there wasn’t as much passing as there is today, either).

Now 9-2, the Eagles are in firm control of the NFC East after the Washington Commanders lost to the Dallas Cowboys, their third straight loss to fall to 7-5, thre games behind Philly in the loss column. The Eagles are 5-1 on the road, 6-1 if you count the season-opening win in Brazil over the Packers.

The Eagles will travel to Baltimore next Sunday to play the Ravens in a 4:25 p.m. kickoff.

TURNING POINT

Easy. Every time Barkley touched the ball.

STUDS

Saquon Barkley. See above.

Nov 24, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean (17) reacts after sacking Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (not pictured) during the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Alex Gallardo-Imagn Images / Alex Gallardo-Imagn Images

Jalen Hurts. The Eagles quarterback played another turnover-free game. He has just one pick in his last eight games and his total for the year is just five. He threw a TD pass to A.J. Brown and has 13 TD passes this year. He was 15-for-22 for 179 yards and a passer rating of 108 while adding 39 yards on 12 runs.

Offensive line. Barkley didn't do it all by himself. Guard Landon Dickerson was particularly nasty.

A.J. Brown. Without DeVonta Smith, Brown had six catches for 109 yards and a touchdown catch.

Brandon Graham. Moved into third place on the Eagles all-time sack list when he sprinted off the edge and buried Matthew Stafford on a third-down throw in the second quarter. That gave him 76.5 in his career and has 3.5 this season. The veteran defensive end blew up a running play with a six-yard tackle for loss early in the third quarter with the Rams driving then on the next play hammered Matthew Stafford as he threw the ball.

Nakobe Dean. The linebacker absolutely ran right over Rams RB Kyren Williams up the middle for a sack late in the first half, his third of the season. He finished with a team-high eight tackles.

Milton Williams. The defensive tackle lined up outside on some plays and ended with a career-high two sacks. A lot of attention was paid to Jalen Carter and that freed up Williams and other.

Josh Sweat. The defensive end had a sack and a fumble recovery.

DUDS

Officiating crew. Land Clark’s crew was as bad as it gets. A bad PI call on Isaiah Rodgers for 31 yards gift-wrapped a Rams TD early in the third quarter that pulled L.A. to within 20-14. The refs had to have two bad calls overturned on replay that initially went against the Eagles. Where’s the accountability for these guys?

Darius Slay. The veteran cornerback was called for pass interference twice. The first one came in the end zone that led to a 1-yard TD for L.A. in the first quarter. The second one was declined because Puka Nacua caught the pass against him anyway.

Isaiah Rodgers. Slay’s backup corner wasn’t much better, and maybe the Eagles should consider going with Kelee Ringo in the future. Rodgers did force a fumble early in the game that Josh Sweat recovered, but he gave up a touchdown to Demarcus Robinson and, later, a 29-yard catch to Puka Nacua on fourth-and-one from midfield.

Self-destructing in red zone. The Eagles made it onto the red zone three times in the first half and settled for chip-shot field goals on two of them. On one, they had a first-and-10 at the Rams’ 13, but three straight penalties, two of which were declined, forced a field goal from 31 yards to pull within 7-6 with 6:20 to play on the second quarter.

STATS OF NOTE

- The Eagles were four yards away from scoring their first touchdown on an opening drive all season. Instead, they settled for a 21-yard field goal from Jake Elliott, and the Eagles now have scored all of six points on 11 opening drives this season.

-A.J. Brown has five red-zone targets all year. His fourth came with less than two minutes to play in the first half for a 6-yard touchdown, his fourth TD of the season.

-The Rams had 290 yards of total offense. Barkley had 302.

INJURIES

-Darius Slay suffered a head injury early in the third quarter and was ruled out with a concussion.

-Brandon Graham left late with an elbow injury and did not return. He told reporters he tore his triceps and is out for the year.

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